Oblivious
by Sulia Shincho
Summary: Takes you through the key points in Iruka's life before and some during the Naruto series both series. It will take you through his achievements and failures and answer some basic character questions.


**Oblivious**

_By Samantha Myers_

**Chapter 1: Mission Desk**

**A/N: Well, this is a new fan fic that I started several months ago. I'm hoping this one goes better than my past fan fics with me updating it. I'll try my best.**

**WARNING: There will be yaoi or at least hints of yaoi in future chapters. Not right away but perhaps in the future. So, the rating might end up going up when I get closer to the end.**

He was nervous and he had no real reason to be nervous, it was only his first day working at the missions desk. Sandaime was personally going to introduce him to his co-workers and choose someone to train him. There was no reason for him to be nervous, so why wasn't the feeling going away?

"Come Iruka-kun," Sandaime said, motioning for the young genin to follow him. The boy tried not to show his anxiety but the audible gulp he made was a sure sign, and he had an inkling that his face was reflecting every emotion that was coursing through him. His clumsy, goofball smile just would not appear to cover his growing anxiety.

The doors opened and immediately any commotion that had been going on seemed to have come to an abrupt halt at Sandaime's entrance. Iruka almost shrank more behind the Third's robes. He could _feel_ every pair of eyes on him and the Hokage, and he could feel a blush beginning to taint his cheeks.

Either the Hokage did not notice the attention or he ignored it all as he approached the desk, bypassing every shinobi waiting in the queue with Iruka in tow. Standing at the end of the long desk Sandaime pointed to the far end and began listing off the names of each worker to Iruka who was too distracted by the many inquiring looks to actually commit each name and face to memory. That was until the last man, the one nearest to them, with satirical eyes that seemed to mirror how his brain analyzed everything in his surroundings, especially Iruka.

"Ibiki-kun this is Umino Iruka," the Third stepped aside so Iruka could no longer hide, "starting today he will be helping with the mission desk. Show him the ropes please. Iruka this is Morino Ibiki, he'll show you everything you need to know." He sounded reassuring but the sight before Iruka was not reassuring at all, the man, Morino Ibiki, looked like he was just given a new toy to play with. It made Iruka fidget even more.

"Hello baby face," greeted Ibiki.

In response Iruka made a face showing both his dislike and disapproval for the nickname. Ibiki just smirked at the kid and an unnerving shiver ran up Iruka's spine and intensified as Sandaime turned to leave for his adjoining office. Iruka half wanted to tell the Hokage that he had changed his mind about taking the job. However, the Hokage paused at his door and Iruka almost felt relieved.

"Oh and Ibiki-san," he added and the said man looked up at the Hokage with a blank face, "be _nice_." That was the only warning given before the dual doors closed behind the Third and seemed to have also signified Iruka's doom.

The room returned to life once again as everyone whose attention had been on Iruka suddenly ignored him, well everyone but one named Morino Ibiki who more than acknowledged Iruka's presence.

"So Umino-kun," began Ibiki who had a calculating half smile on his lips, "how old are you?"

"Fourteen," he answered more than well aware that he looked more like a ten year old. "And I don't see how my age is relevant to learning my job." The words were out before Iruka could think about them.

Ibiki looked mildly surprised by the snappy reply but he didn't acknowledge the comment as he continued, "And you're obviously a genin still. It's strange that you're going to work here at such a young age, you should be out doing D-rank missions with your squad."

Iruka flinched at the word "squad" and he was certain the satirical man had noticed it, but Ibiki didn't remark on it. "I do D-rank missions every day with a team," he informed the presumptuous man, hands on his hips, sounding like an adult scolding an unruly child.

Ibiki eyed the teen with new interest. "Well, Umino-kun, I have a task for you." The man turned back to the desk for a moment.

"Okay." Iruka let his hand fall limply to his side.

When Ibiki turned back to him he had a massive stack of papers that caused Iruka's eyes to widen like saucers and automatically hold out his hands in case the tower of papers began to fall. Ibiki however took advantage of Iruka reaction and dumped the pile into Iruka's arms. The sheer weight of the papers made Iruka take a few steps back to keep the stack from falling like an unstable Jinga tower.

"What I want you to do is file these reports into these files marked complete," explained Ibiki, standing up to put eighteen folders at the top of the paper tower. "These reports are to be separated by rank and success or failure, and once that are marked 'urgent' go in the 'urgent' file. Simple, right?"

Iruka sighed, "Is this really part of the job or are you just trying to get me to do unnecessary work you don't want to do?"

Ibiki smirked but Iruka couldn't see it through the papers, "This is part of the job and it's not unnecessary work. If I had known beforehand that I was going to be training someone today I would have prepared something to train you on, but as it is, I have nothing. So this is the best I can do for now." That made sense to Iruka but it also made feel as though he was a burden to these mission desk shinobis. "Now, set yourself down somewhere behind my desk and get to work. You do understand what you're supposed to do, right?"

Iruka nodded but he doubted Ibiki could see his head over the papers, so eventually he said, "Yes, Morino-san." Moving to situate himself on the floor, Iruka was able to set the reports down and grab the folders when Ibiki interrupted him.

"Before I forget, baby face," Iruka made a face again, "don't read any of those reports. They're not meant for innocent eyes like yours just yet."

Shrugging his shoulders, Iruka plopped himself down and laid out the folders before him as he began to tackle the Goliath of mission reports. Behind him, Ibiki watched the kid for a moment then went back to collecting more reports that he would file later that night.

* * *

It was a steady day and Ibiki stretched out his cramping limbs as he closed up his folder of miscellaneous completed reports. It would take him a good couple hours to sort the files that night and all he wanted to do was go to sleep after having a hot meal and some tea.

Picking up the folder, Ibiki remembered his young charge who had not made a sound during the last five hours--he knew the kid was supposed to have only worked three hours. Looking over his shoulder at the floor behind him, Ibiki found the youngster dozing on the floor, the mountain of reports neatly filed between the eighteen folders. Cocking his head to the side Ibiki wondered when the kid had finished filing; there had been four days worth of reports in that pile.

For a brief moment Ibiki smirked at the kid's accomplishment before going over to Iruka and waking him up. "Hey baby face, wake up."

Iruka stirred, rubbing the drowsiness from his eyes. "Morino-san? Where is everybody?"

"They all went home for the night; you and I are the last ones kid. Now let's go, unlike you, I didn't get to nap most of my shift away."

"I dozed off not even a half hour ago," Iruka retorted a blush covering his cheeks when realization set in that he had been caught napping on the job.

Ibiki commented, "Well, that makes all the difference since you napped on your off time then. You were supposed to get out of here two hours ago kid."

The blush intensified as Iruka stumbled for a reply, "Well, y-you see…I didn't want to leave my task…incomplete. Besides, I still don't know where to put these folders." He stacked the said folders on one arm then stood up balancing the eighteen filled folders on one arm.

"They go in that cabinet over there. I think you can figure out where they go." Ibiki jerked his head toward the cabinet and Iruka made his way to it and filed the folders away in their correct cabinets. Meanwhile, Ibiki went to the door and tried to figure out why a kid would care at all whether he got a job done or not, normally kids cared about getting paid for the small amount of time that they worked. Which was part of the reason young teens like Iruka were not normally given jobs like manning the mission desk.

Iruka soon joined the older man, shutting off the lights and closing the door behind him. Ibiki locked the door and pocketed his set of keys into his vest pocket. "Well, thank you for all your hard work Umino-kun."

"Thank you Morino-san," Iruka bowed before turning around to leave.

Ibiki decided to walk the kid out rather than just teleport himself home with a jutsu and as he walked the kid out an idea struck him. An idea that would be beneficial for him. "Say, Umino-kun, are you hungry?" A stomach growl from the teen and a deep blush was all Ibiki needed to know the answer. "Tell you what, I'll treat you to dinner if you help me sort through these reports."

Eying the man, Iruka weighed the pros and cons of him accepting the invite. The pro was he would get a free meal but the cons were he would still be working (doing someone else's work no less) and he would be stuck with this near perfect stranger. He opened his mouth to say "no," but Ibiki beat him to it.

"If you have a curfew or something, I'll explain everything to your folks then you won't be in trouble."

"That's not it," Iruka interjected, putting up his hands as though he could somehow stop the intangible words from flowing out his senpai's mouth. "My parents are… Good night Morino-san."

The incomplete sentence did not go unnoticed by Ibiki but he mentally filed as something to investigate later. For now though, it was time for a different tactic, Ibiki decided. "Will what if I buy you dinner and persuade Raido-sensei to forget that little prank you pulled on his genin team yesterday?" he offered, watching Iruka's back tense as he rethought the proposition. He knew he had the kid! "After all," he continued, pretending to be oblivious to Iruka's anxiety at the mention of the jounin sensei, "Raido-sensei has been out for blood since the incident, even threatening to go to the Hokage."

Shoulders slumped as Iruka craned his neck backwards to look up at Ibiki while still walking. "Fine." With the one word compliance the teen's head snapped back into place.

"Great, I know just the place to go to this late at night."

The jounin led the way through the near sleeping town to a little restaurant and bar that would remain open until the wee hours of the morning. Iruka did not particularly favor the place, especially at night, because drunken shinobi and civilians alike always got rowdy. At least he was guaranteed to have ramen on the menu.

It was a seat-your-self type of restaurant and Ibiki led the teen to a table that was away from the bar but out in the open so that way the gossipers could not spread rumors about Ibiki being a child molester. People, even shinobis, were stupid enough to assume that a non-related adult having dinner with an under-aged child was a molester, even if that "adult" was Ibiki.

"Any idea what you want?" Ibiki asked, grabbing one of the two menus set at the table and skimming through it.

"Pork ramen with fried eggs and a lemon-lime soda," Iruka replied without looking at the other menu.

Ibiki raised an eyebrow slightly, going basically unnoticed, "Do you come here often?"

Iruka snorted as though the question was completely absurd before he blushed when he realized the legitimacy of the question. "No, I've just been here once and that's what I had last time."

A waitress magically appeared by their table and took their orders before scampering off to flirt with a row of Anbu members who were apparently celebrating one of their members passing the Anbu exam--or was it retiring? It was difficult to tell. Plus Iruka wasn't all that interested in the Anbu Black Ops, he was more interested about his senpai and co-worker.

Ibiki remained silent even when their waitress brought their drinks, the jounin refrained from drinking sake despite the legal drinking age being 18 years old. The jounin sat waiting patiently as he watched the kid in front of him, idly wondering when the teen would crack and speak up. There had to be a lot on the kid's mind, or perhaps there was nothing going on in Iruka's mind. It was hard to tell.

"Shall we get started on those reports?" Iruka mumbled, gesturing to the folder on the table.

Was this kid the work-a-holic type? The all work and no play kind of person? No, Ibiki determined as he handed the folder to Iruka, he just wanted to the task done so all he had to do was eat and leave. The kid was uncomfortable.

"Are you comfortable Umino-kun?"

"No," the teen sighed as he looked over the first report then set it down, the beginnings of the D-rank pile. "I've never been very comfortable with strangers, especially ones that take me to dinner the first day I meet them." The second report was on the table, starting the B-rank pile.

"Well, I'm not going to try to get you drunk then take advantage of you, nor am I going to offer to take you to my place. I am not interested in kids," assured Ibiki, keeping his stoic disposition.

Iruka nodded as he looked over the seventh report, he stared at it longer than necessary if he was simply separating the reports by rank.

"Are you reading that Umino-kun?" Ibiki questioned, frowning at the kid's inability to listen to a simple order.

Setting the report down on the table, the first one for the A-rank pile, Iruka looked up at his superior shinobi and smiled angelically. "I've been reading every report that you've given me to organize Morino-san. I was curious and I figured that it would be best to get a clearer idea of what kind of missions may be awaiting me in the future."

Any surprise Ibiki may have felt was not reflected on his face. "You read through that entire stack that I gave you earlier?" Iruka nodded as he returned to sorting the reports. "How?"

"I'm a speed-reader and my dad taught me where to look on reports for the most vital information, he had to read over reports all the time because of his position," Iruka explained, half paying attention to what he was saying. If he was focused on what he was saying he would have cut his response short a while ago.

I see, thought Ibiki. "What do you think of these missions?"

"The D-ranks are ridiculous and the C-ranks are very straight forward, so far nothing drastically has gone wrong in the ones I've read. The B-ranks interest me, mostly intelligence gathering and rescue missions so far. The A-ranks though, are frightening. Not so much the missions themselves but what happens on them and how _easily_ some of these are carried out. Sure there are complications but reading these reports--the ones I am able to read--the writers make it sound like there were no emotional conflictions with killing the targets. It's frightening."

Sighing, Ibiki reminded himself that Umino Iruka was still a baby face shinobi, he had no idea how things really worked. "We're shinobi Umino-kun, we kill. There aren't supposed to be emotions attached."

Iruka bit his lip, already half way through the reports, he seemed ready to argue but was stopping himself. Their food came before Ibiki could see when the kid would explode and when the waitress left Iruka was more composed and finishing the reports. While the teen finished sorting Ibiki began to eat his meal.

Suddenly the folder was slid to his end of the table, full, and completely organized. Across the table Iruka broke his chopsticks and said grace before digging into his bowl of ramen.

"How did you know about that prank I pulled, Morino-san?" Iruka eventually asked in between slurps of noodles.

Smirking at the kid's attempt of a heated glare, Ibiki replied, "Umino-kun, while you work the mission desk the key is to keep your ears open. Take for example your prank, all I had to do was be aware of the conversations happening around me. Raido-san was ranting yesterday to another jounin about some genin named Umino Iruka and the prank this genin pulled on his team. That's how I knew."

Iruka's face was a marvelous myriad of shades of red that amused Ibiki to no end. "S-so…everyone knows what I did?" he inquired in a timid voice.

"Well…" Ibiki watched the kid squirm a bit at the ominous tone the jounin had taken, "only the people who were aware of the conversation, which was not many. Trust me, for as many people call themselves shinobi it is amazing how many of them are oblivious to what is going on around them."

The teen visibly sighed in relief as he put a hand to his chest as though to calm his racing heart. Calming down, Iruka took a big slurp of his ramen, it had to be unhealthy for a person to eat like that.

Putting down his chop sticks, Ibiki leaned forward on the table and whispered conspiratorially, "How did you get their hands stuck together?"

Iruka almost choked on his ramen but he managed to swallow it before a smug grin appeared on his lips. He liked explaining his works to people even if the only person who seemed interested was the Hokage.

"It was quite easy actually, I asked them to form a circle, telling them that it was part of a secret jutsu I was planning to teach them. They believed me. I made the signs and the rest was a genjutsu. I call it "Nikawa no Jutsu," it allows me to attach two objects together." Iruka began chuckling--it was more like a giggle--about some thought he had. "It was hilarious to watch them fumble around. That was until Raido-sensei came along and dispelled the jutsu, then those brats ratted me out."

"Show me," Ibiki all but pleaded, he had to see _this._

Iruka became giddy in an instant and had to restrain himself to keep from clapping and jumping in joy. "Okay, you pick the victim…I mean volunteer."

Ibiki caught the hint and was not about to volunteer himself, especially since he knew basically what would happen. No, he decided that looking for an unsuspecting victim would be best. For the briefest of moments he entertained the idea of having this jutsu performed on one of the Anbu but choose not to endanger the teen. After all, most Anbu members did not have a sense of humor, not even sadistic humor.

However, he seemed to not be the only one wanting to see this jutsu as his victim seemed to land---literally--in his line of sight. Oh and this person deserved this humiliation! This person needed to be tossed--figuratively--from his high and mighty pedestal.

"Okay, I got our 'volunteer,' he's heading this way wearing the standard chuunin uniform and blocker glasses."

Iruka was about to turn around to look at the target but he noticed Ibiki's subtle motion not to. So Iruka didn't, he waited impatiently. His waiting paid off as a tall, slender man barely into his twenties (at best) who walked with an air of superiority despite his chuunin rank. It didn't take much for Iruka to know that this was the volunteer.

He didn't personally know the man but this was his target and Ibiki probably knew him. Now all he needed to do was think of a way to get close to him. "Okay who is he?"

"Is that relevant?" Ibiki asked quietly, he didn't want to alert the target that he and this punk were planning something.

"He's in the bathroom Morino-san, no need to whisper. His name is not necessarily relevant but might come in handy. I need to get close to him, like actually make physical contact with him. So if I bump into him or something and I apologize using his name with the honorific "sama" it might appeal to his ego and make him oblivious to my technique," Iruka informed the jounin.

Ibiki tossed a few ideas in his head before he asked, "Do you need to actually touch him?"

"I need to touch his hand or this jutsu won't work," confirmed Iruka.

"Leave it to me then."

"Well, whatever you plan on doing it'll have to be soon because he's coming this way," warned the teen, lips barely moving as he averted his eyes from the target. He did not want to attract attention.

Ibiki used his chakra to follow the chuunin's movements then lashed out at the last second, violently swinging out of his seat. He moved so fast that his left shoulder collided with the victim's and his foot tripped the man. Everything took the chuunin by surprise, probably because there was alcohol flowing through his system.

Seeing everything happen out of the corner of his eye, Iruka reacted fairly fast for a genin. He caught the victim by his hand, using more chakra than necessary to steady the man and keep himself on the chair. The use of too much chakra was a common mistake among genin but it was essential to Iruka's jutsu. Meanwhile, Ibiki disappeared into the crowd pretending not to have noticed anything.

"Whoa there, are you okay chuunin-sama?" Iruka inquired politely as the man straightened himself up.

Pulling back his hand, the chuunin righted his glasses as his black eyes narrowed angrily. "Such insolence!" he scowled.

"I'm sorry about my friend, he just…" apologized Iruka with an equally apologetic smile. He truly was sorry, but not for Ibiki.

"Not him, _you_!" interrupted the chuunin harshly. "To think that I, Ebisu, would need help from a lowly genin is preposterous." With that said he stomped away to the bar, and like a well timed comedy, Ibiki reappeared in his seat munching on his dinner.

"Did it go well?"

The genin's face was fury red, if there was such a color, and it intrigued Ibiki, he had never seen a person's face go so red so fast. "That jerk!" Iruka practically yelled, gaining the unwanted attentions of several customers who began to whisper about underage drinking and how young shinobi were so hotheaded.

"Voice," reminded the jounin calmly, hiding his mouth behind drink.

Red remained on the genin's face but Ibiki had an inkling that it was now from embarrassment rather than anger. The kid had some of the quickest mood swings that Ibiki had ever met, with the exception of some very troublesome women.

"S-sorry," stuttered Iruka, returning to his meal with the blush still flaming on his cheeks causing the scar across his nose to stand out more. "Just tell me when he's holding something. Just make sure it's within ten minutes or I won't be able to pull off this jutsu."

The two mission desk workers continued to eat in silence, Ibiki keeping an eye on the target waiting for the perfect opportunity to see this jutsu in action. His focus wasn't only centralized on the chuunin though, it was also on the genin and making a quick escape plan if they needed to make a quick getaway. As a shin obi Ibiki knew better than to assume that plans, even the most thoroughly thought through plans, would go off without a hitch and it was always best to have a few back-up plans and an escape route just in case.

"Morino-san, if you're looking for the best escape route, it's through the men's room and the window for me, I'm able to fit through it. For you, I would say either following me into the bathroom and then using a jutsu to teleport yourself out of this place, or cutting through the kitchen through the doors behind you and to your left."

For a moment Ibiki wondered when Iruka had planned out these escape routes before it hit him, Iruka had pulled a few pranks here before and had to make a quick getaway from an angry owner or patron. This kid…Ibiki grinned at the thought, he's chuunin material.

"Are you taking the chuunin exams in a few months?"

"If Hokage-sama deems me ready for the exam," the kid replied evasively, making it quite clear that this was not a topic he wished to discuss.

Everyone knew that the jounin sensei for each squad was the only person to nominate who was best fitted to take the chuunin exam. If the Hokage was deciding Iruka's nomination then something had to have happened to the kid's sensei, most likely death. "What about your sensei?" It still didn't hurt to ask.

"Gone." The simple word seemed to mark the end of the conversation as well as the slurp from Iruka as he drank some of the broth.

Redirecting his attention to the target, and just in time to witness the perfect opportunity to see the teen's jutsu in action. "Now," Ibiki commanded.

Iruka whipped through a brief series of hand seals under the table. "Nikawa no Jutsu."

"Ah pervert!" A slap ran out in the restaurant along with a woman's outcry as Iruka downed the last of ramen. "Let go of me you leach!"

"That was good," sighed Iruka contently as he patted his stomach.

Ibiki nodded but somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he and Iruka were not referring to the same thing. He could hear every word that Iruka said but any meaning behind those words were lost to the jounin as he sat trying not to gap at the sight at the bar.

"Someone help! This pervert won't let go!" the woman kept shouting, her tone becoming more urgent.

"Release the jutsu," Ibiki muttered, trying not to laugh aloud as some of the Anbu attempted to pry Ebisu's hand off the young lass' tush. When Iruka dispelled the jutsu, the jounin watched as what could only be described as the domino effect occurred as the chuunin fell back, taking three Anbu Black Ops with him. Iruka did not see the aftermath of the release but he felt and heard it.

"I can't believe that worked so well," was all Ibiki could think to say.

"Yeah well, I leave a residue of my chakra on the object, in this instance the man's hand, and it acts as an adhesive when I activate it. Pretty handy but I have yet to try it in combat," Iruka explained, finishing his drink.

The jounin stared at his charge for several moments, unnerving the young man, then stated, "You'll make an excellent specialist one day."

"Huh?" The genin was confused, albeit flattered, but confused nonetheless. He was used to people ignoring him or telling him that genin was probably the best he could ever become as a ninja, but someone telling him that he could a be a specialist--an excellent specialist--shocked him. "What do you mean by 'specialist'? Like a special jounin?"

The response reminded Ibiki that Iruka was new to the desk, ignorant to all that actually happened to people working the mission desk. "Baby face," Iruka scowled and glared, "Umino-kun," Ibiki corrected, "the key thing about the mission desk is that everyone who works there are or will be specialists in some area or other." His voice was kept low; after all, this information was not for anyone's ears. "That's why everyone who mans the desk is handpicked by the Hokage, even you."

"Oh…" he had no idea. "What's your specialty?" Immediately Iruka regretted asking when the look Ibiki gave him sent a shudder throughout his entire body.

"Torture and interrogation." Iruka's eyes grew wide and he couldn't help but gap in surprise and horror. "In fact, I'm going after your dad's old job as head of the Torture and Interrogation Division."

The kid visibly gulped at the mention of his father. "How did you know that was my dad's position?"

Ibiki smirked, so he was right about this kid. "Umino Shinji was practically my idol and I only guessed that you were his son, after all Umino is not a common name. It's kind of like the Hatake name, uncommon in usage but renowned in some way."

Blushing Iruka mumbled an uncertain thank you, he was torn between feeling complimented and like an idiot. He fell right into his superior's hands and did so without knowing it. He was disappointed in himself.

"My exams are in two weeks and I'm hoping to persuade the Hokage to let me be a proctor for the chuunin exams next year or so," added Ibiki, picking up the bill the waitress had left them and pulling out his money from his vest pocket. "Just thought I should warn you, give you more motivation to take the next exam."

The two men got up and went to the door, Ibiki handed the bill and money to the waitress, telling her to keep the change. This was where they would part, until the next time they would work together--probably tomorrow.

"Thank you for the meal Morino-san, now don't forget to talk to Raido-sensei about my prank," reminded Iruka using as much of a commanding voice as he could conjure.

Ibiki just chuckled at him. "I will. Now I have one last piece of advice for you Umino-kun," Iruka eyed the man from between strands of bangs, "next time don't give so much information about yourself away, simply because someone asks."

Part of Iruka felt indignant, he wasn't stupid and he only gave so much information about himself to the jounin because he was a fellow Kohona shinobi and could be trusted. However, another part of Iruka took Ibiki's words to heart. He should not have been so open to the man, ally or not, because one never knew when an ally might be a traitor in disguise.

"Thank you for your words of wisdom, Morino-san." The genin bowed before taking off--sprinting--to his dorm in the orphan dormitories before his coworker could offer to escort him home.

"See you tomorrow Umino-kun," Iruka heard Ibiki yell after him.

Several blocks away from the restaurant, Iruka slowed his pace to an easy stroll as he put his hands into his pockets and began whistling random notes and rhythms. It was a bit difficult to see with the moon covered by the clouds but Iruka didn't necessarily need his sight to walk home.

He was less than two blocks from his house at nearly eleven o'clock at night when he noticed someone slumped against one of the darkened buildings. At first Iruka couldn't figure out what the object was but upon closer examination he found it to be a lanky person wearing a blood covered Anbu uniform. The mask was still in place but the Anbu's head hung forward as though the person had passed out.

For several moments Iruka stood there watching the shinobi while mentally ticking off reasons why he should and should not approach the person. Anbu were rumored to be very aggressive, not exactly people friendly, and virtually impossible to defeat in combat. Not the kind of people Iruka really wanted to confront.

Eventually his nice, concern side overrode all doubts and fears, forcing Iruka to move toward the mysterious shinobi. He was standing next to the person and the Anbu hadn't moved, Iruka didn't think he just acted when he put a hand to the Anbu's shoulder. The person woke instantly and caught Iruka's hand.

The genin winced at the sharp pain the ninja caused. "S-sorry, I mean you no harm," he apologized; his voice had gone up an octave or two due to the pain and fear. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

The Anbu didn't reply just simply let go of the kid's wrist, the hand falling limply into the Anbu's lap. Now that Iruka was closer he could see that the Anbu was male from the outline of his chest.

"Anbu-sama, are you injured?" No response. "How about I take you to the hospital?" Finally the man reacted, sitting up a little straighter and shaking his head rapidly. "You're bleeding though," Iruka pointed out, indicating the gash on the Anbu's abdomen and the even deeper on his leg.

"I'll heal," replied the Anbu, it shocked Iruka to even hear the man speak.

"But you'll heal faster at the hospital," insisted the genin, grabbing his superior's arm to loop around his shoulders.

"Leave me alone," the man drawled out lazily yanking his arm away. Iruka was certain the Anbu's tone was due to blood loss and exhaustion. After all, what kind of shinobi was a lazy one?

As often as Iruka might comply to the requests of others he could also stubbornly disobey and this was one instance. "No, you need medical attention and I'm sure that the medic nins will be more than happy to not remove your mask, Anbu-sama. Now let's go." He grabbed the arm again and put it around his shoulders, then did a sequence of hand seals.

"I have to report to Hokage-sama," protested the Anbu half-heartedly as he attempted to remove his arm only to find he couldn't. He wondered for a moment if the kid had placed some kind of jutsu on him.

"Do it in the morning right now you need medical attention, and don't bother trying to let go of me. I already used my jutsu on you to keep you in place," Iruka stated sternly. "Man, I sound like one of the academy senseis."

With some difficulty and concentrating his chakra to his feet, Iruka was able to stand up with the Anbu's extra weight. Iruka had to walk with the wounded man because he didn't have the chakra or energy to safely run across the roofs to the hospital, even though it would have been quicker.

The Anbu was silent the entire trip with the exception of a few grunts of pain when too much pressure was applied to his leg or when his abdominal wound brushed Iruka's ribs. If the Anbu stood up straight he would have a good half head or full head more height on Iruka. Normally Iruka didn't feel self-conscious about his height, but this man made him feel short, but he took comfort in the fact that he would have a growth spurt soon, he could almost feel it.

At the hospital doors a smiling medic nin greeted Iruka with a smile and friendly, "Iruka-kun, what did you do this time?" before the nin saw the bleeding Anbu that Iruka held. Then everything became chaos.

Iruka barely dispelled his jutsu before two medic nins took the mystery Anbu from Iruka and dragged him away. The nin who had greeted Iruka returned to him in a matter of seconds with a slightly baffled expression.

"Iruka-kun, what did you do this time?" she asked.

"I found him passed out near my dorm and I decided not to leave him in the streets to bleed to death," Iruka answered a blush in full bloom on his cheeks. "Did I do something wrong?"

The ninja sighed in relief then smiled reassuringly at the teen. "No, you did a good job Iruka-kun, I was just afraid that this was a result from one of your…hobbies." She was trying to be nice.

The blush deepened. "No, afraid not my doing this time. Good night Hino-san," Iruka said bowing his good bye to the woman. He left the hospital more than a little exasperated with how his first day at the mission desk had gone. Too much in one day.

Iruka smirked at the thought. There certainly had been too much going on for a single day but if this was how working the mission desk would be day in and day out, Iruka would have to get used to it. "I'll do my best!" he declared, making his way to his single dorm and a cold yet comfortable bed.


End file.
